“Hopefully everything will work out for Rose. Lizzie and Esther don’t usually have this many guests at one time, so I’m surethings are somewhat disorderly right now.”
Jayce sat on the bench and Evelyn took a seat beside him.
“I don’t bite,” he said, grinning.
She noticed the large space she’d put between them and scooted over a little.
“In case you get the urge to kiss me again, I don’t want you to strain your neck.” A big smile spread across his face.
Evelyn chewed her bottom lip, partly from nerves, but also so she didn’t start laughing.
“Go ahead and laugh.” Jayce pressed his lips firmly together as he shook his head. “But you’re a very aggressive Amish woman.”
Evelyn burst out laughing. “Don’t say that. I don’t even know why that happened.” In part, that was true. But it happenedbecause she was attracted to him and had been nervous at the time.
“Do you want to kiss me?” His dark eyes held her gaze, as if searching her face for permission.
“No,” she said softly.
“Really?” He spoke with a heavy dose of sarcasm, back to his playful self.
“That’s right. I no longer succumb to such urges.” She raised her chin and attempted a serious expression.
Jayce lowered his head. “Well, that’s a bummer.”
Evelyn was smiling broadly when he finally looked up. “Maybe we just see how it goes.”
He grinned. “I can live with that.”
“You have got to be kidding me!” A loud voice came from behind them, causing them both to jerk their heads around.
“Hey, hero.” Jayce waved at Gus.
“Oh no,” Evelyn whispered. The grumpiest man on Earth was walking toward them, toting a tackle box and a fishing pole slungover his shoulder.
“First it was Naomi and Amos coming down here to paint their pictures and smooch.” He lowered the fishing pole to his side. “Now I’ve got to deal with you two? Is this Lovers’ Lane or what? And do you have to do your canoodling during the best fishing time of the day?”
Evelyn could feel her face turning red.
“Gus was a hero today.” Jayce looked back and forth between her and Gus. “He saved our star actress from drowning.”
Evelyn didn’t have to feign shock. Her dropped jaw happened naturally as she tried to picture Gus as a hero. She’d only knownhim to be obnoxious and rude. “Really?” she managed to say.
“Oh, whatever.” Gus growled. “How long you two going to be down here?”
Jayce shrugged. “I don’t know. The canoodling hasn’t officially started, so it could be a while.”
Evelyn elbowed him as she put a hand over her mouth, horrified and amused.
“She’s Amish, ya know. She ain’t used to your type.” Gus threw the words at Jayce like big rocks.
“You’d be surprised,” Jayce said, grinning.
Evelyn laughed. She couldn’t hold it any longer.
Gus let out a heavy sigh. “This day is getting stranger and stranger.” He did an about-face and stomped off.
“Bye, Gus!” Jayce yelled, but the man kept going.
When Jayce’s eyes locked with hers, she reminded herself not to let her gaze travel to his lips. “I don’t canoodle,” she whisperedas the sun settled close to the horizon.
“I know.” His expression was serious. “And I’d never do anything to disrespect you. You know I was teasing, right?”
The strange surge of disappointment ran the length of her spine this time. “I know.” She forced herself to smile.
“This has been a weird day.” He shook his head and then told her what happened at the caverns, how Gus really did save Veronica’slife.
“That doesn’t sound like Gus.” Evelyn thought about all the times she’d avoided the man. “Especially since there were so manyothers who could have jumped in to help.”
Jayce twisted slightly, rested his arm on the back of the bench, then propped up his chin and stared into her eyes. “Backhome, I used to be a master at faking the person my father wanted me to be. It was exhausting. When I quit trying to be thatperson, that’s when all the problems started.” He paused for a while. “I’ve been trying to find myself ever since. Maybe Gusisn’t really the horrible person he tries to be. Maybe he’s just unhappy with his life, and his offensive behavior is a defensivemove to protect him from getting hurt.”
Evelyn cringed. “I don’t know about that. I’ve seen him show a few kindnesses over the years, but mostly . . . he’s been terribleto folks.” She paused. “But it’s interesting that you think that. You must be someone who tries to find the good in everyone.”She smiled. “And that’s nice.”
“Maybe it’s because I want people to see the good in me. I’ve done things I’m not proud of. But God forgave me. I think I’mstill searching for the good in myself, the person I want to be.”
Evelyn stared into his eyes for a long while. “I see that good in you, Jayce.”
He smiled a little. “Do you?”
She nodded. She’d never wanted anyone to kiss her more in her life than she did in this moment. But Jayce turned to face thepond as the sun became one with the water, glazing the surface with orange hues, descending faster than Evelyn wanted it to.
Twelve
Esther made the trek to Gus’s cottage much later than she’d meant to. It was well past dark, so she held a flashlight in onehand and carried a pie tote in the other. Her knees had given her fits all day, which usually meant bad weather was coming.
“What do you want?” he asked when he opened the door.
Esther hung her head, willed her blood pressure to stay within range, then looked back at him. “Gus, why is it that you mustaddress a guest like that right when you open the door? Here.” She pushed the chocolate pie at him. He took it. “I heard youdid a good deed today, and I thought you would enjoy this pie.”
“Yeah,
